Victim's Relatives Say Sinkhole Warnings...

Posted September 23, 1996 12:00 a.m. EDT

CLINTON — While the North Carolina Department of
Transportation says it doesn't know what happened to signs warning of a
washout on State Road 1128 in Sampson County, relatives of two people
injured there say signage has never been adequate.

What started out as a simple drive home for Vanessa Chestnut and
her friend Tawanda Sampson, ended in a nightmare inside Chestnut's
vehicle after it fell into a deep crevass left in the road by rushing
water during Hurricane Fran. Two hours later, another car,
driven by Charlene Rogers, also toppled off the edge of the road. She was
able to climb out and go for help.

Six hours after the women were rescued, DOT workers were installing
huge new signs on either side of the washout. DOT officials say they had
placed cones and signs up after the road washed out, but they
had apparently been knocked down afterward.

Firefighter Raymond Civilie was among the first at the scene after
Sampson's call. He says there has never been adequate signage,
and that in the dark, it would have been impossible to avoid the hole if
you didn't know it was there.